Worldwide fake goods trade worth 407 billion euro

According to the OECD (Organization for Economic Development and Co-operation) and the European Intellectual Property Office, the worldwide trade in fake goods is now worth more than 400 billion euro.

2.5 % of global trade

The OECD and the EUIPO have studied nearly half a million custom seizures (from 2011 to 2013) and calculated that the counterfeit market in 2013 managed an astonishing 461 billion dollar turnover (407 billion euro), which is about 2.5 % of all trade that year.  

In the European Union alone, 5 % of all imported goods were counterfeit, worth 85 billion euro. The United States have been hit the hardest though: about 20 % of all confiscated counterfeit goods between 2011 and 2013 is related to American brands and patents. Italy is second on the list with 15 %, ahead of France and Switzerland with 12 %. Two percent related to Belgian goods.

The world’s biggest manufacturer of counterfeit goods, by a long mile, is China: 63.2 % of all seized goods comes from China, with Turkey trailing as number two (with 3.3 %) and Singapore third (1.9 %). All economic branches have suffered from counterfeit products, it seems: luxury goods, cosmetics, medicine and food. Shoes, clothing and leatherwear are the most popular counterfeit products.